Getting to sleep comes down to two things: what you do in the hours before bed and the environment you create for it. Adults need 7 or more hours per night, but hitting that number starts well before you lie down. Here’s what actually works, broken into the habits, timing, and surroundings that make the biggest difference.
Set Up Your Bedroom for Sleep
Temperature matters more than most people realize. Keep your bedroom between 60 and 67°F (15 to 19°C). Your body needs to drop its core temperature slightly to fall asleep, and a cool room helps that process along. If you tend to run hot, lighter bedding or a fan can close the gap.
Darkness is equally important. Even small amounts of light can interfere with your body’s internal clock. Blackout curtains or a sleep mask are simple fixes, especially if streetlights or early sunrises are an issue. Cover or remove any glowing electronics in the room, including charging indicators and standby lights.
If noise is a problem, pink noise is worth trying. It uses deeper, lower-pitched sounds (think steady rain or ocean waves) and reduces the contrast between background hum and sudden loud noises like a door slamming or a car horn. Studies have found it lowers brain activity and leads to more stable, deeper sleep. White noise works too, but it’s higher-pitched and harsher, which some people find less soothing. A simple fan, a dedicated sound machine, or a phone app can all deliver either type.
Wind Down Before Bed
Your body doesn’t have an off switch. It needs a transition period to shift from alert mode into sleep mode, and what you do in the last hour or two before bed sets the tone.
A breathing technique called 4-7-8 is one of the most effective ways to calm your nervous system on demand. Inhale through your nose for four counts, hold for seven counts, then exhale slowly through your mouth for eight counts. This activates the part of your nervous system responsible for relaxation, pulling you out of the fight-or-flight state that keeps your mind racing. Repeat the cycle three or four times. It feels awkward the first few nights, but the effect strengthens with practice.
Other options for winding down include light stretching, reading a physical book, or taking a warm bath or shower. The warm water raises your skin temperature, and when you step out, the rapid cooling signals your body that it’s time to sleep.
Cut Screens Two to Three Hours Early
Blue light from phones, tablets, and laptops suppresses melatonin, the hormone that tells your brain it’s nighttime. In one Harvard experiment, blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as green light and shifted the body’s internal clock by a full 3 hours. That means scrolling your phone at 11 p.m. can make your body feel like it’s only 8 p.m.
The recommendation is to avoid bright screens starting two to three hours before bed. If that’s not realistic every night, at minimum dim your screen brightness, use a warm-toned night mode, and try to stop at least 30 to 60 minutes before you want to be asleep.
Watch What You Eat and Drink
Caffeine has a half-life of four to six hours, meaning that if you drink a coffee at 4 p.m., half the caffeine is still circulating in your bloodstream at 10 p.m. One study found that caffeine consumed even six hours before bedtime measurably disrupted sleep, even when people didn’t notice it. A good cutoff for most people is around 2 or 3 p.m. Remember that caffeine isn’t just in coffee: tea, chocolate, energy drinks, and some sodas all count.
Eating a light dinner two to three hours before bedtime gives your body enough time to digest without the discomfort of a full stomach or acid reflux keeping you awake. Heavy, spicy, or fatty meals close to bed are the biggest offenders. If you’re genuinely hungry later in the evening, a small snack is fine, just keep it light.
Alcohol is deceptive. It might help you fall asleep faster, but it fragments sleep in the second half of the night, reducing the deep, restorative stages your body needs most.
Build a Consistent Schedule
Going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time every day, including weekends, is one of the most powerful things you can do for sleep quality. Your internal clock thrives on predictability. When your schedule is erratic, your brain doesn’t get clear signals about when to start winding down, and falling asleep becomes harder even when you’re tired.
If you need to nap during the day, keep it to 20 to 30 minutes. Anything longer pushes you into deeper sleep stages, and waking from those causes sleep inertia: that groggy, disoriented feeling that can linger for a while. Napping too late in the afternoon can also steal from your nighttime sleep drive, making it harder to fall asleep on schedule.
Get Bright Light and Movement Earlier
Your body’s internal clock responds strongly to light. Getting bright, natural light within the first hour or two after waking helps anchor your circadian rhythm, making you more alert during the day and sleepier at the right time in the evening. Even 15 to 20 minutes of outdoor light on a cloudy morning is more effective than indoor lighting.
Exercise also improves sleep quality significantly, but timing matters. Moderate activity earlier in the day, even a brisk walk, helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Intense workouts within an hour or two of bedtime can raise your heart rate and body temperature enough to delay sleep onset for some people, so experiment with timing and pay attention to how your body responds.
Supplements That May Help
Magnesium glycinate is one of the better-supported supplements for sleep. It helps regulate the chemical messengers in your brain that are directly involved in sleep. A commonly recommended dose is 200 milligrams taken about 30 minutes before bed. It’s not a sedative, so don’t expect it to knock you out. Instead, it supports the body’s natural relaxation process over time.
Melatonin supplements can help with jet lag or occasional schedule shifts, but they work best when your issue is timing (falling asleep too late) rather than staying asleep. Start with a low dose, typically 0.5 to 1 milligram, since higher doses don’t necessarily work better and can cause grogginess the next day.
How Much Sleep You Actually Need
The amount changes with age. Adults 18 to 60 need 7 or more hours per night. Adults 61 to 64 do best with 7 to 9 hours, and those 65 and older need 7 to 8. Teenagers require 8 to 10 hours, and school-age children (6 to 12) need 9 to 12. These aren’t aspirational numbers. Consistently falling short increases the risk of weight gain, weakened immunity, mood problems, and impaired concentration.
If you’re doing everything on this list and still can’t fall asleep within about 20 minutes most nights, or you wake frequently and can’t get back to sleep, that pattern may point to an underlying sleep disorder like insomnia or sleep apnea, both of which are common and treatable.